Generally the print link is acceptable. Although I thought there was a ban on threads specifically created to rip on freep articles.

EDIT: after reading the article, it is pro-MSU, but I don't necessarily see anything that outrageous. He basically points out that MSU has a better team and coach than us (again, the authors opinion and certainly not out of the realm of possibility) and a worse fanbase (and he doesn't understand why). He seems to be pointing out the obvious in a controversial way.

they have the better program, and the better coach. Given their shite little stadium and history as an institution, their pedestrian and sanctimonious little coach, their limited recruiting pull, the fact that they can't sell out for important games, their endemic hoodlemism (new coinage) I find that a reach. Doesn't mean it couldn't happen down the line, but you don't just drop 150 years of tradition off the back of the truck when you lose two in a row to the school down the road. And given that they graduate a lot of people this year, I would say we've got good odds to take them next year. Are they going to airily decide who's got the best program on a year-to-year basis?

Now if you make this comparison between us and OSU. . .

Must be selling a lot more Freeps in Lansing than downstate these days, that's all I've got to say. I know they've lost a lot of hits from my house. I was born in Detroit and came to favor the Freep during the news strike but the willful stoopid was, finally, too much for me to take.

Michigan Agriculture has won 3 years in a row. They have bragging rights for the moment. BUT, as the article admits, it won't last long. One of our worst teams ever and one of their best teams ever, and the games have still been close. Right now, they are better, but we'll put Michigan Agriculture back in their place. I think we just need some stability in the program.

Can we please create an act about posting anti-Freep stuff? The Freep adores MSU, hates Michigan. No one here likes the Freep, and honestly seeing these threads just reminds me that I have to live in the same state as these assclowns.

I don't read the Freep, but this article doesn't say anything that we haven't thought. It's not saying it's a forever deal either. It's saying that MSU's program is in a better place than ours is right now.

This thread was made to rip on the Freep and I hope the mods delete it.

Never had Freep souvenirs, but I haven't visited the freep since September 2009. Frankly, the only people that I know that do visit the Freep are those on this board that insist on creating threads linking to it.

This post may have not come to fruition if it weren't for Practicegate.

I'm actually glad Sparty and their Trussell-Ball-Jr. style have come back to being competitive. Biases aside (theirs and ours), there's nothing more satisfying than competing against and beating a good team. Especially a Spartapus! =]

MSU has passed Michigan … for now. What happens next will determine where this rivalry goes from here. But if you’re a Michigan fan and you aren’t willing to make that simple, obvious concession, then you’re probably the same fan who thinks that Michigan was just an average defense away from a Big Ten title this season: delusional in both respects.

Delusional? Yeah, I drink the Koolaid, but I don't see how anyone who understands college football wouldn't think that Michigan would have had a reasonable chance to win at least 3 more games with a defense that could stop a team on occassion.

Yeah, to say that an extra defensive stop or two per game wouldn't have had a major impact on our season is ridiculous. In addition to, you know, keeping the opponent from scoring more, that also would have probably cut down on our offensive turnovers because the offense wouldn't have felt like it had to score on every possession.

Um ok....RR has 4 league championships Dantonio now has 1 tri shared one, BCS wins RR 2 Dantonio 0. Overall record RR beats him in a land slide.....but there is no dispute Dantonio is the better coach.

You're inadvertantly downplaying MSU's victory over a horrible 2008 Michigan team by bringing up the fact that Michigan lost to Toledo that same season. That might not sit well with your fellow fans.

I still hear the occasional Sparty complaining about the pylon TD because it's important for them to point out that MSU could have actually won by more points.

And don't get me started on the "It's been X many days since Michigan beat MSU in football or basketball" meme. I don't recall Michigan fans counting anyything other than consecutive victories since, you know, all the days in between don't really matter that much but, we get it. One thousand is much more impressive than three.

"This is not a permanent trend. Michigan will be back whether it’s with Rodriguez or with Harbaugh or with a coach to be named"

Yes he does say that we won't dominate them like we once did, and to some extent he is right: the Big Two, Little Eight is gone, College football is deeper than it once was. But, I don't think he would disagree that over the period 2011-2031 or so, Michigan will generally finish above MSU. I don't feel the general argument of the article is wrong despite the fact that some of the words he used ("better program") were clearly dumb.

This article is flame-bait. MSU had a better team this year, and has a three game winning streak while Michigan was in a historic slump. But M has had solid recruiting classes, and MSU has not had a breakout year. One year ago, MSU was 6-7. At this point, the MSU has not established itself as an elite program, and thus any nominal, marginal "edge" is essentially de minimis.

We all know how large the MSU alumni base is. What we don’t know is why they fail to sell out a game against Purdue in November when their team is tied for first in the conference. That part is still a head-scratcher.

I know! Ooh! Ooh! pick me! Because their stadium sits 113,000? Wait, no, that's not it. Oh, now I know. Because people STILL don't care about MSU football!

I can't believe I just read (skimmed) an entire (half of an) article dedicated to ripping on the UM football program and fanbase. I can't believe how biased the Freep writers are. I live in NC, and even with the Duke/UNC rivalry, I've never see anything like this.